New Jersey awards 12 freight rail grants

Twelve grants totaling more than $12 million have been awarded through the New Jersey Department of Transportation's (NJDOT) Fiscal Year 2013 Rail Freight Assistance Program, which helps support economic activity by preserving and improving the existing freight transportation system and by making freight rail service more widely available for businesses throughout the state.

"The [Chris] Christie Administration is committed to providing assistance to New Jersey's freight railroads for improvements to and preservation of our rail transportation network," said NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson. "The projects funded here will help advance a transportation strategy that strives to increase mobility and efficiency in the movement of goods in support of the state's economy."

The projects receiving funding in this round of grants include upgrades and repairs to existing railroad tracks and bridges and for expansion projects that will connect existing freight rail lines with new customers.

Salem County will receive more than $2 million for it's Shortline Running Track Rehabilitation Phase 6 project; New York Susquehanna & Western Railway will receive nearly $2.5 million for a seven-mile weld in place jointed rail project between Elmwood Park and North Bergen to construct terminal track. SMS Rail Service Inc. will receive more than $2.8 million for its Pureland Expansion and upgrade Project.

Since 1994, New Jersey has provided more than $65 million for rail projects through the New Jersey Rail Freight Assistance Program. These grants provide funding for 90 percent of the estimated cost of each project while the sponsor is beholden to provide the remaining 10 percent.